Learning to Love You
by mhelliknee
Summary: Future fic. A young boy looses the only person he loves. Will he be albe to love again?
1. Default Chapter

Learning to love you. Prologue 

"…five times four is twenty, five times five is twenty-five, five times six is thirty…" 

Everyday after lunch we recite the times table. Day after day it becomes more like a memory game than a math skill. Today I decided not to join in. Not because I didn't understand, I had memorized it long before entering the 3rd grade at Maplecreast Academy, but because I was too busy examining my new toy. She gave it to me the last time I saw her, four days ago. She brought me the hand made elephant from her brief visit to Bangladesh. She was always taking trips like that and every time she returned she gives me something new. 

Irina Derevko is important. I learned that early on. Some people were afraid of her; some respected her. But only I love her.

I don't remember my real mother; Irina took me when I was a toddler. I wasn't mad at her for it, she told me she did it because she loved me. She said I was her world and she was mine. She was right. I will not and cannot love anyone like I love her. 

I missed her, though. I hardly ever got to see her anymore. She left me here in this hell-like boarding school eight months of the year. She can only visit once a month. The headmaster has strict rules and won't bend them for even the most powerful terrorists. I know if she weren't so adamant about me having the best education, she would have me with her every minute of the day. 

"What is that?" Someone behind me whispers.

I turned around and see Liam looking at me out of the corner of his eye. Liam was the only good friend I had here. We didn't get along with the other children, mainly because we were different. Our eyes were different colored and our skin was a little lighter. We were also taller and thinner than the others. He sat kitty-corner to me on my left. He reached a hand under his desk and I quickly tossed the elephant into it. 

I turned back around to let Liam examine it. 

"Did Irina give this to you?" he whispered, trying to keep the teacher from noticing.

"Yeah. Bangladesh." I replied.

"Huh. Where is she now?" he asked.

"I dunno." I answered. When the teacher looked my way, I began to join back in on the recitation. 

"Here." he said. Just as I turned around to grab it back, a booming voice from the door at the front door called my name. I thought I was going to get in trouble for talking, but the look on the headmasters face said I wasn't. 

I got up and walked to the front of the class with by book and my elephant. Everyone stared. It was very rear the headmaster made an appearance outside of his office. 

"Come with me right now. Your guardian is waiting." he spat. I left the room with him and we walked unusually fast down the long corridor.  I began to worry. I was not supposed to see Irina for a few more weeks, what could be so important?

I followed the headmaster into his office and saw her pacing around it. She saw me and rushed over. Grabbing my left wrist she lead me out of the office.

"Sweetheart, we have to leave. It's extremely urgent." she pleaded.

"But I haven't packed…" I protested.

"I'll buy you everything new again, …come on!"

And we were off. Racing down the stone steps in front of the school and into a waiting limousine. Irina and the driver began talking frantically in a foreign tongue I didn't recognize. We sped down the highway and down a few side roads for about half an hour until we reached what I recognized as Irena's airfield. I saw that the jet was all ready to take off.

We got on and the whole flight we remained quite. I wanted to ask her what was going on, but the look in her eyes told me not to. So, I just sat by her; resting my head on her shoulder and letting her stroke my dark brown hair.

We landed after four or five hours. It should have been early evening back home, but in this place it looked like mid-afternoon. Irina looked out the little window and tensed up.

"Damnit." she swore. She reached up into the overhead bin and grabbed a handgun. 

She bent town and kissed my cheek and I could see tears welling in her brown eyes. I started to get sacred. She never cried. Something was definitely wrong. 

"I love you, stay here," she said as she exited the plane.

If I had known what was going to happen next, I would never have let her leave the plane.  


	2. Chapter 1

7 Years Earlier 

"Hey, Colin! Look over here! Come on! Look at Daddy!" 

I stood over my two-year-old son and aimed our new digital camera. He had gotten himself stuck in the bathroom sink; how her managed to do it I'll never know. His chubby little legs hung over the edge of the counter while his behind sat right on top of the drain. The look on his face when I found him was absolutely priceless; a mixture of pride for managing to get up there, complete terror for fearing he would never get down and his all the while his green eyes twinkling with mischief. I quickly snapped a few shots of him to show Sydney after she finished grocery shopping.

Sydney hated leaving me alone with him for reasons just like this. She hated missing out on his life, even the little things. She cut back at the CIA when he was born to stay at home with him; it was obvious that she had a new favorite man in her life: the smaller one with her dimples and my eyes. It never bothered me because I feel the same way. I can't remember life without my little boy. 

I put my hands under his arms and hoisted him out of the sink.

"Thank you, Dubby" he grinned.

"Daddy." I corrected him, but I couldn't help smiling. Still struggling with language, he could enunciate everything clearly, but he mixed up letters all the time. Sydney forced everyone to correct him (I think it has something to do with being an English major) but I actually enjoyed being "Dubby".

I followed him out of the bathroom and saw Sydney pulling into the driveway. I jogged out the front door to meet her and take in the grocery bags. 

I opened the door for her. "Did you get everything?" I asked while helping her out. She 'uh-huh'ed and kissed me on the cheek. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her. I was going to deepen the kiss, but she stopped me. 

"Stop it, right now. The neighbors are gonna see." She pulled away smirking and opened the trunk.

"Oh, like they haven't seen anything before." I deadpanned.    

"Later." She winked at me and handed me a paper bag. 

"Hiiii, Mummy!" Colin yelled from the front step.

"Hey, Baby. Wanna help me?" She held out a box of crackers for him to come and get. He ran over as fast as his stubby legs could carry him with his shaggy brown hair bouncing. He reached up with both arms, hugged the box to his chest and he proudly led us into the house. 

"So, did you print off those pictures?" I asked her as she entered the bedroom after putting Colin to bed.

"Yeah, the second one was the best. You know, the one where he's trying to push himself out? I sent a copy to my dad." She walked over to me as she talked. She paused for a second and said, "You know, we're pretty lucky." Her brown eyes were soft and calm and I knew instantly she was talking about Colin.

"Yeah. You know, I'm starting think he's getting lonely. He might need a brother or sister" I raised my eyebrows hoping she'd take the hint.

"Really? You really think so?" She wrapped her arms around my waist. I leaned down and softly kissed her neck.

"I know so." I said. I moved her over to the bed and laid her down.

"Do you know how much I love you?" She said looking up at me.

"About half as much as I love you."

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

I reached over and hit the alarm clock. 6:45. Sydney had managed to sleep through the high-pitched beeping and I didn't blame her. After the night we had….

I grinned and stepped out of bed. I began my normal morning ritual starting with showering, then making coffee, and then saying goodbye to Sydney while bringing her a cup to drink in bed. When I reached my final stage, kissing Colin goodbye, my stomach jumped. Something was wrong.

The first thing I noticed was the draft from his open window. We had air-conditioning so we always kept the windows shut. The second thing was the opened dresser drawers. Sydney hated his room being messy and would never leave all them open with clothes hanging out of them. Peering over the crib rails I noticed the final and most important clue. He was gone.


End file.
